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Discrimination between Onchocerca volvulus and O. ochengi filarial larvae in Simulium damnosum (s.l.) and their distribution throughout central Ghana using a versatile high-resolution speciation assay

Overview of attention for article published in Parasites & Vectors, October 2016
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About this Attention Score

  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (70th percentile)
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (75th percentile)

Mentioned by

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1 policy source
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4 X users

Citations

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13 Dimensions

Readers on

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46 Mendeley
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2 CiteULike
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Title
Discrimination between Onchocerca volvulus and O. ochengi filarial larvae in Simulium damnosum (s.l.) and their distribution throughout central Ghana using a versatile high-resolution speciation assay
Published in
Parasites & Vectors, October 2016
DOI 10.1186/s13071-016-1832-7
Pubmed ID
Authors

Stephen R. Doyle, Samuel Armoo, Alfons Renz, Mark J. Taylor, Mike Yaw Osei-Atweneboana, Warwick N. Grant

Abstract

Genetic surveillance of the human filarial parasite, Onchocerca volvulus, from onchocerciasis endemic regions will ideally focus on genotyping individual infective larval stages collected from their intermediate host, Simuliid blackflies. However, blackflies also transmit other Onchocerca species, including the cattle parasite O. ochengi, which are difficult to distinguish from the human parasite based on morphological characteristics alone. This study describes a versatile approach to discriminate between O. volvulus and O. ochengi that is demonstrated using parasite infective larvae dissected from blackflies. A speciation assay was designed based on genetic differentiation between O. volvulus and O. ochengi mitochondrial genome sequences that can be performed in high-throughput high-resolution melt (HRM)- or lower throughput conventional restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses. This assay was validated on 185 Onchocerca larvae dissected from blackflies captured from 14 communities in Ghana throughout 2011-2013. The frequency of O. ochengi was approximately 67 % of all larvae analysed, which is significantly higher than previously reported in this region. Furthermore, the species distribution was not uniform throughout the study region, with 25 %, 47 % and 93 % of O. volvulus being found in the western-most (Black Volta, Tain and Tombe), the central (Pru) and eastern-most (Daka) river basins, respectively. This tool provides a simple and cost-effective approach to determine the identity and distribution of two Onchocerca species, and will be valuable for future genetic studies that focus on parasites collected from blackflies. The results presented highlight the need to discriminate Onchocerca species in transmission studies, as the frequency of each species varied significantly between the communities studied.

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X Demographics

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 46 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 46 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 8 17%
Researcher 6 13%
Student > Bachelor 4 9%
Student > Master 4 9%
Student > Doctoral Student 3 7%
Other 10 22%
Unknown 11 24%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 8 17%
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine 5 11%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 5 11%
Immunology and Microbiology 5 11%
Medicine and Dentistry 4 9%
Other 7 15%
Unknown 12 26%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 28 September 2017.
All research outputs
#6,173,745
of 22,896,955 outputs
Outputs from Parasites & Vectors
#1,339
of 5,476 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#94,652
of 320,117 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Parasites & Vectors
#22
of 96 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,896,955 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,476 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.7. This one has done well, scoring higher than 75% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 320,117 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 96 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 75% of its contemporaries.